


Deadline

by ccversation (orphan_account)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, High School AU, Human AU, M/M, Trans Character, frisk makes everyone get their shit together, i am the pinnacle of originality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-18 03:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5895592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ccversation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School is no walk in the park for anyone-especially for a select few at Ebott High, where every day is more of a one handed crawl through the labyrinths of their lives.<br/>....And yet, the moment Ms.Dreemur's adopted child breezes into the classroom, in all their three foot nine splendor, there's a feeling of hopes and dreams being restored, little by little.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_You don't think about consequences until they happen._  
_Of course, you can conjure up possible scenarios and threaten people into believing them all you like, but nothing really matters until the future blows up in your face._  
_The funny thing with consequences: they're not as simple as cause and effect. Too often they're a chain reaction, a ripple, a butterfly effect._

_You don't think about consequences until time makes you think._

_Makes you **regret.**_

* * *

 

 

 

Sans wakes up before the alarm goes off.

 

  
                     Anyone who’s seen his infamous fifty hour hibernation in action might consider this an anomaly, but Sans is aware that today, of all days, he’s subconsciously putting a semblance of effort in. After all, the first day of high school wasn't exactly a day he could sleep off.

(In all honesty, the only thing stopping him from going back to sleep is the image of Papyrus’ zealously packed backpack by the door flashing in his mind.)  
              Eventually, at the impressive speed of jello, Sans managed to get out of bed, zip up a hoodie, and tug a beanie over his mop of black hair. The alarm started ringing just as he walked out the door.  
 He could still hear its faint beeping as he knocked on Papyrus’ door. On the third knock, it swung open with an exuberance that rivaled the person behind it. Papyrus was already dressed, beaming, and armed with an alertness that really shouldn’t be present in  the morning. The brothers were all about breaking rules of nature.  
  “sup, pap. you ready to go?”  
“Of course I am! High School has never seen the likes of the Great Papyrus before! And I am fully prepared to take on the challenges of...The Bus!”  
Sans winces. “Actually, Pap, we’re not taking the bus today.”  
His brother’s smile falters. “We’re...not?”  
   The smaller of the two shoves his hands into his pockets and forces a smile. He doesn’t have the heart to tell Papyrus the real reason why he wants to avoid their peers for as long as possible. He never does.  
“Yeah, the world’s not ready to be blown away yet. Might wanna not waste all that Greatness on one ride, you know?” His words are sincere, but he hopes Papyrus doesn’t notice the pain lacing them.  
    Papyrus hesitates for a millisecond before his face splits back into a grin. “Of course! You’re pretty great too, brother! Perhaps one day, you might become as great as me!”  
Sans’ simper softens into a genuine smile. “Thanks, Pap.”

 

* * *

 

By the time lunch was rolling around, Sans had already mentally drawn up a list of things to keep in mind:

         1.) He had very few classes with Papyrus, which meant that worry would be gnawing at him the entire time Papyrus was out of his sight. It was an unusually paranoid train of thought for Sans, he knew, but that didn't stop him from jumping to conclusions. 

         2.) His peers collectively lacked in two things: the ability to whisper, and any concept of social etiquette.

         3.) Needless to say, Sans didn't make many friends.

         4.) Ms.Dreemur was the best teacher he'd ever had by a long shot. He was determined to get into her good graces, by whatever puns possible.

         5.) Snails. She had went on a tangent about snails. It wasn't the best material to work with, but he'd take whatever he got.

    Someone bumped into him, jostling him out of his musings. Funny hows his peers kept "accidentally" running into him.                                                                                                  The freshman managed to suppress his simmering irritation and yawned. Lunch lines in this school seemed to crawl by exceptionally slow, even by his standards.   
 After a century or so, he finally reached the counter and nodded at the lunchla-lunchman. Lunchman. Grillby. Sans had heard about him. Grillby nodded back, stoic, silent, and every bit deserving of his legendary reputation. The two regarded each other for a beat. Grillby slid a tray toward him. An air of approval emanated from him.

        Sans reentered the cafeteria, tray of...something in hand.  
He wasted no time searching for Papyrus. His mismatched gaze skimmed the room anxiously, before finally locking with another pair of eyes-and another.  
              Sans can't say he was surprised that Papyrus had made another friend so quickly. His charm was bound to intrigue someone.                                                                               Sans will say, however, he was surprised that said friend had _multiple piercings_ and  _tattoos_  and an _eye patch_ and  _holy shit she could probably break him in half_.  
Cautiously making his way over, Sans managed to not let his face betray any emotion and slid next to Papyrus. The shorter sibling chanced a glance at the ripped titan across from them. He wasn't sure if her tight red ponytail was the cause for the scowl that seemed to be permanently plastered on her face. He didn't ask.  
   Silence hung over the three of them, drowning in the sea of noise of the cafeteria.

          "Right!" Papyrus barked suddenly. "This is Undyne."  
Her name was fitting, vaguely conjuring up mental images of Norse warriors pillaging villages and crushing enemies.  
              "Nice to meetcha. I'm Sans." teen in question threw her a winning smile, audibly winking.  
Undyne narrowed her eyes (eye?) at him, and then turned her attention to Papyrus.  
   "Is he going to be at the cooking lesson too?"                                                                                                                                                                                          "Probably! ...We'll just have to keep him away from the ketchup."   
     "good luck stopping me."  
"Ketchup is WEAK! Pap, I'll show you how to make your own tomato sauce, and how to do it the PASSIONATE way!" Some stares were cast their way.  
     Huh. Well, that conversation had officially gone sideways. Nonetheless, Sans stayed seated a bit longer, studying the way Papyrus and his (their?) new friend argued about the pros and cons of punching vegetables.

            _"It adds FLAVOR!"   "Knuckle sweat isn't flavor!!" "MY KNUCKLES DON'T SWEAT!!! They CREATE!"_

Despite her brushing off San's abundance of charm, he could already tell she and Pap would be fine. Heh. That made one of them.                                                                       He had seen enough. 

"yo, pap. i'm gonna go." Sans rose from his seat, barely touched lunch tray in hand. Papyrus waved at him, and Undyne bid him farewell with a "You better show up for the cooking lesson, punk!" 

                      It was...nice, knowing that there was at least one person they could rely on. Still.

                                      He was gonna have a bad year.

 

 


	2. Fallen Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mixing up POVs just for the heck of it  
> we'll get back to sansi boy dont worry

High school sucked.

   This wasn't a particularly shocking or new revelation, but Undyne found no harm in repeating it. And repeat it she did. Daily.

It became a mantra of sorts, often accompanied by an involuntary glower on her face. Her relatives took great care in never asking her about her education. The latest oblivious aunt was still recovering.      

       Ebott High wasn't  _terrible_ , sure. There was a certain respect you gained with a reputation like Undyne's. She was the girl that demanded to fight the principal on the first day of school, the person who could bench press seven children, the freshman that had burnt down half of the gym (no one, least of all her, knew how that happened) and she was, essentially, a living legend. But the problem with distancing herself from her timid peers was, well, the _distance._ Friends gave Undyne a wide berth at all given times. Others would tremble in her presence. And, of course, there was always that one kid in the yellow sweater who fell on his face when Undyne drew near. The whole experience did wonders for her ego, but the novelty of intimidation was, well, wearing off.

 

"High School SUCKS, Gerson."

       Administration had been quick to entrust a guidance counselor to Undyne. The sophomore was too much of a loose canon (with a millimeter long fuse) to be deemed "safe and predictable"-which, when told as much, the redhead had simply responded  _"HELL YEAH I'M NOT!"_   

    Gerson chuckled. "I hear you, loud and clear! But lookie here, urchin, it's gonna suck a whole lot more if you keep itchin' for a fight."

"I TOLD you, I'm CALMER!" urchin in question grumbled.

 "Uh huh."  The guidance counselor wasn't impressed. "Tell that to the last few kids who looked at you funny. Last I checked, that was a whole lot of broken limbs."

Undyne squeezed her stress ball in one hand. Her knuckles whitened. "I'll try not to beat up as many people. No promises, though."

 

* * *

 

  

Homeroom was buzzing with gossip, as usual, and Undyne elected to ignore the chatter, as usual. Despite her nonchalance, it was hard not to pick up fragments of conversation. Something was off: no one was talking about who broke up with who, or about what celebrity was deemed "trashy" this week. It seemed that all the attention was focused on some new students. Made sense, Ebott being the tiny school it was, but Undyne didn't see why her peers were acting so...nasty.

    _"I heard that their eyes are two different colors. F-reaky."_

_"Cousins? No way, they're definitely brothers. Weirdos either way."_

_"So like, they totally got kicked out of their old school-I'm serious! The small one's like, hella creepy."_

  Undyne shook her head to herself. The scathing comments were upsetting, sure, but no reason to dwell on them. She couldn't find it within herself to get angry on some  _stranger's_  behalf.

* * *

 

  She met one of said strangers during Home Ec.   
    Undyne would be the first to say that cooking was her passion, emphasis on  _passion_ , but the class was watered down too much for her to get into it. Any chances of excitement had gone down the drain when the teacher had taken one look at her, blanched, and stated that the stove burners were off limits. Point was, class was boring.   
  Or, at least it was, when one day a flash in the corner of her eye caught her attention: a hand, shooting up in the air, and before the person was even acknowledged he began expounding loudly about all the reasons why they should start a unit on  _spaghetti._  
The sight of a student gesticulating wildly about the virtues of tomato sauce was a disorienting one.  Undyne had to take a moment to process it.

Undyne couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the teacher-she was a simple woman who liked bunnies, there was no way she was paid enough for this. She managed one weak "Yes, Papyrus-", which prompted the boy to launch into another tirade describing how excited he was. It was a tour de force, to say the least.  
Of course, being public school, her classmates exchanged looks. The Papyrus guy didn't even notice. He finished his long-winded soliloquy with a winning grin.  
"...Right," murmured the now pale teacher. "Right. Um, okay. Ahem. As I was, uh, saying, I'll be assigning partners for your next assignment." And with that, Undyne's attention had switched off. She absentmindedly began twirling her pencil. 

_"....Catty and Bratty, Napstablook and Shyren...."_

Her thoughts strayed back to a piano piece she was working on. There was this one chord that always sounded wimpy, no matter how much she slammed down on the keys.

" _...Heats Flamesmen, Jerry-don't give me that look, okay?...."_

Maybe she should use her arm instead. The sound might be muddy, but the impact would definitely improve-

"... _Undyne and Papyrus..."_  

Undyne's pencil fell out of her hand. 

She chanced a glance over at him, and the blinding smile he shot at her was a bullet, a bullet striking her square in the chest, because in that moment Undyne felt in aching clarity something break open inside of her; a dam broken, a dam open, and the overwhelming urge to _befriend this chump so fast he wouldn't know what hit him_ slammed into her.  
                     She grinned back at Papyrus. She wasn't sure how he pulled off an actual eye sparkle, but it was damn impressive.

  
   The bell shook everyone out of their various moaning and cheering, and amidst all the shuffling Undyne raced over to her new partner.  
"So what dish are we making?"  
          Papyrus didn't miss a beat. "Why, spaghetti of course! It's only the best of the best, and as the best student I only deliver the greatest!"  
Undyne beamed and slapped him on the back. He handled it like a champ, despite the near immediate bruise that formed.  
"YES! We're going to put 110% effort into this!"  
        Papyrus shook his head, attempting to plaster a wry expression on his face. It was a terrible look for him. "Surely you meant to say... _120%?_ "  
" Um, heh, that's kind of overkill, don't you think? ...I LOVE IT!"

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive been sick for a bit so please pardon the skimpiness  
> next chapter should actually have plot, amazing, i know

**Author's Note:**

> tfw mobile posts your drafts, unedited  
> its cleaned up now!! im sorry to anyone who had to read the original mess omg  
> first published fanfic and i accidentally post it in the middle of writing a sentence¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> anyway! next chapters will probably be a lot of longer, right now im just getting a feel for the whole thing.


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